Three of the largest hospital systems in Massachusetts requiring employees get vaccinated

Three of Massachusetts’s largest hospital systems have announced they are requiring their employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Mass General Brigham said in a statement that it is requiring its 80,000 employees to get vaccinated once the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants full approval to one of the three vaccines currently in use.

The two-dose vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, as well as the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, have been granted emergency use authorization from the FDA.

Pfizer and Moderna have applied for full approval of their vaccines, known as a Biological License Application (BLA).

Thus far, more than 85 percent of Mass General’s employees have been vaccinated, the hospital said. The hospital system has administered over 450,000 vaccine doses to patients and employees.

Likewise, Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH) announced on Wednesday that it plans to require all physicians and staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19 “as a condition of employment” after at least one of the vaccines gets final approval.

BILH President & CEO Kevin Tabb said in a video message that some employees didn’t feel comfortable getting vaccinated because the vaccines only had emergency authorization.

However, Tabb said he “fully expects” for the vaccines to be fully approved “later this year." At that point, inoculations will be mandatory.

Like Mass General, about 85 percent of BILH employees have been vaccinated.

Wellforce similarly said that it will require staff to be vaccinated once one of the vaccines gets full approval, which it anticipates happening “later this year.” ...